twas the night before Christmas

We have visited the NORAD website today, tracking the journey of Santa Claus. It is kind of cool to see how fast he travels. He is able to deliver presents to all the children in some countries in about an hour. Dang, it took me hours today just to get present for two children. I really do not see how that man did it. It is even more amazing to think that he is over 16 centuries old. I swear that the man is not a day over 10 centuries.

Well, it is time to get the kids to go to sleep. I know how hard it can be to sleep knowing that this man will come into our house. I guess that this is another magical thing about Santa. How does he manage to get all these presents into the house with out waking anybody up? My kids can be light sleepers, so they are able to hear. I really do not know.

On a more serious note..

I got to thinking about people less fortunate than us this year. The ones that I really though about were the recovering addicts. It is hard to live in this world knowing that you are the one who messed up your life. I guess that this is the time of year when it really hits home. There are so many people out there who are struggling to get their lives back together, doing what ever it takes to clean and sober up. Sometimes it takes time for this to happen. So many of them are sitting home alone today, full of regrets and sorrow. Some of them are still living in homeless shelter. Some of them only got to see their children for a couple hours of a supervised visit. Some of them have been excluded from the family events because of their behavior of the past. Their families have gotten tired of stressing out, hiding all the booze, and wondering what kind of stuff is going to happen if this person shows up.

Now, I am not feeling sorry for the addicts who are still using. And yes, I did acknowledge that these people did bring these problems on them selves. But there is an answer, and some people actually cling to this answer. They are willing to put the effort into becoming a healthy person in society. My prayers go out to these people that next year they too will be able to be with families next Christmas.

I look at myself a bit here too. This year we had a couple organizations provide presents for the kids. If God is willing, next year I will be able to sponsor a family, and give their kids a Christmas. I am really thinking about giving back what was given to me. I really want to be a good person. I will see how it goes.